Alert archive / Alabama / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Birmingham, AL

March 12, 1986Winston County, Alabama

NWS Birmingham, AL issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 1986, 3:35 PM CST for Winston County, Alabama. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Mar 12, 1986, 3:35 PM CST (21:35 UTC)
Expired: Mar 12, 1986, 4:15 PM CST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Birmingham, AL
Area: Whole counties

County Winston County, AL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Centreville/Bibb, AL (KCKL), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 140 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 941 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -117 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 295 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 339 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBHM 122137
TORBHM
ALC107-075-057-133-122215-

BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
335 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 4:15 PM CST FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

ALABAMA... PICKENS...LAMAR...FAYETTE...AND WINSTON.

AT 335 PM...LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING POSSIBLE
TORNADOES WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH THROUGH THyE AREA.
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED IN PICKENS COUNTY WITH SEVERAL
FATALITIES AND AN UNKNOWN NUMBER OF INJURIES.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 12, 2:45 PM CST, 50 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
 245 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

...AT 2:10 PM CST...ALABAMA STATE TROOPERS REPORT WIND DAMAGE IN
   EAST-CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE ROOF OF A SERVICE STATION WAS
   DAMAGED ON STATE ROUTE 21 NORTH OF TALLADEGA. A GASOLINE
   PUMP AND AUTOMOBILE WAS ALSO DAMAGED AT THE SERVICE STATION.

...AT 2:30 PM...THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY IN GADSDEN
   REPORTED SOME TREE DAMAGE IN ETOWAH COUNTY.

-

                                                                      ]

Local storm report, Mar 12, 3:18 PM CST, 17 minutes before

STORM REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
3:15 PM CST WED MAR 12 1986

...AT 3:15 PM CST THE PICKENS COUNTY SHERRIF'S OFFICE IN WEST
   CENTRAL ALABAMA REPORTS AT LEAST TWO PERSONS K]ILLED AND
   A NUMBER OF INJURIES FROM A TORNADO. THE TORNADO STRUCK
   BETWEEN PICKENSVILLE AND CARROLLTON AROUND 2:15 THIS
   AFTERNOON. AMBULANCES HAVE BEEN DISPATCHED. THERE IS
   EXTENSIVE DAMAGE IN THE AREA.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Birmingham, AL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 12, 1:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Pickens	65 min
Mar 12, 2:30 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar, Pickens	60 min
Mar 12, 3:08 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion	67 min
Mar 12, 3:35 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar, Pickens	40 min
Mar 12, 3:56 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Franklin, Lawrence	64 min
Mar 12, 4:10 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence	65 min
Mar 12, 4:12 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Marion, Winston	63 min
Mar 12, 4:12 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Lamar, Pickens	63 min
Mar 12, 4:25 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	Marengo	65 min
Mar 12, 4:25 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BMX	St. Clair	65 min
Mar 12, 4:30 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Tuscaloosa	60 min
Mar 12, 4:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Walker	65 min
Mar 12, 5:02 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Cullman	58 min
Mar 12, 5:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BMX	Fayette, Pickens	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Alabama, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.